Twin Loyalty

The loyalty of my children to their family never stops amazing me. Maybe it’s Stockholm syndrome, but hopefully it is just pure full-out love for each other. I often get to witness examples of it, but my favourite moments are the ones that I hear about from my friends, when it’s definite that my kids are not doing it for my benefit.

Over coffee last week one of my friends was telling me about Grace’s outburst during class one day. Grace tells me nothing about what happens at school, but my friend’s daughter gives her mom a real-time transcript of the day, so she reported this to her mom. Apparently they were getting a health lesson from the student teacher, and they were discussing the evils of sugar. That’s the point at which I would have started hearing the Charlie Brown teacher voice, so I give my daughter credit for even continuing to listen. At some point in the lesson it was mentioned that eating too much sugar can lead to disability. This is when Grace launched herself out of her seat and declared, “My twin sister has a disability and I want you to know that she was born with it. It’s not her fault, and she did not cause it by eating too much sugar.”

I’m pretty sure the student teacher never saw the tiny little ball of rage coming. She was probably all dazzled by the dimples and glittery clothes. But if there is even a hint of a negative thought toward Maggie, Grace speaks up and puts you in your place. She does it calmly and thoughtfully, but trust me that you will know you’ve been put in your place.